Mercedes and BMW had autopilot-like features for longer than Tesla. They just don't advertise those features as aggressively as Tesla because they are more conservative. Tesla has the start-up bonus that Mercedes does not have and if there was an accident, Mercedes' reputation would take a bigger hit than Tesla's.
Companies can work on more than one project at a time. Especially since this and autopilot are likely worked on by completely different people at the company.
This must be farther along on the pipeline. Clearly Auto-Pilot is not at a stage they're comfortable promising.
You probably would be using Autopilot on the highway but not in cities. Not sure it would be practical enough.
It's a great experimental Level 2 feature but I think it may be dangerous if too many drivers take it as a full blown self-driving option.
